Meg 339. TV Smash!

[Proudhuff]

For what is one of the best Megs for a long time, crammed with great artwork and stories there's not much comment?

[TordelBack]

Bought it!  Reading it!  But brother is there a lot of it!

I haven't had time to digest or even look at everything yet, but it really is extraordinarily good value.

The Slaine text piece is actually very good, and Mills is surely the best interviewee in comics, with a useful collation of recent observations and reflections from the artists involved in Book of Scars making for an informative entertaining article.  The Davis preview art makes that black goo spurt out of the top of my head.

On that note, Black Siddha looks gorgeous and even intelligible in collected form, but then this is the coherent bit.

Rob Willams' and PJ Holden's Dredd opener is gripping stuff, with a completely believable Dredd offering hard-earned wisdom to someone who should know better than to ignore it.  But we are in a post-Trifecta world, as Williams of all people knows. Artwise PJ does some terrrifc crowd scenes and some great design and interesting angles in Hershey's office, but his mental shoulder eagles are starting to out-McCarthy McCarthy!

Art Wyatt and Paul Marshall's Dan Francisco is the final part of a story I haven't seen before, and I don't know how to judge (geddit)  it.  As an episode it's a serviceable lava-pit punch-up with mercy droppething from heaven, but I get no sense of how Francisco is different from A. N. Other judge.  Former TV star, former drugged stooge, former Chief Cheese (twice), presided over the worst disaster in MC-1's history... that's a lot of baggage for a slab jock.  Surprised and delighted to see Marshall on this.  I'll have to chase up the earlier parts.

And that's about as far as I've got.  Money well spent so far, and miles to go yet.

[Mabs]

For what is one of the best Megs for a long time, crammed with great artwork and stories there's not much comment?

It was a marvellous read, Proudhuff. Loved everything, including the floppy. I'll forward my thoughts later.

[Mabs]

Hey TB, I also enjoyed the Slaine feature. One thing I noticed was Pat Mills saying he considers himself Irish, I thought he was English? But then it may explain his celtic leanings and ideas for writing Slaine as he himself says.

[TordelBack]

Hey TB, I also enjoyed the Slaine feature. One thing I noticed was Pat Mills saying he considers himself Irish, I thought he was English? But then it may explain his celtic leanings and ideas for writing Slaine as he himself says.

His mother was Irish, IIRC.

[Mabs]

Oh okay. Thanks for that.

[Recrewt]

Bought it!  Reading it!  But brother is there a lot of it!

I haven't had time to digest or even look at everything yet, but it really is extraordinarily good value.

I can understand how the £5.60 price tag can put some people off but with the amount you get it really is great value.  As it's a monthly title I look at it as the equivalent of 4 tooths = £9.40. 

That said, the Meg has been good of late so I suppose if you get one or two duff ones then it would make you start to wonder. 

[Proudhuff]

Bought it!  Reading it!  But brother is there a lot of it!

I haven't had time to digest or even look at everything yet, but it really is extraordinarily good value.

I can understand how the £5.60 price tag can put some people off but with the amount you get it really is great value.  As it's a monthly title I look at it as the equivalent of 4 tooths = £9.40. 

That said, the Meg has been good of late so I suppose if you get one or two duff ones then it would make you start to wonder.

I think once you compare it with the ad-heavy American DC/Marvel flimsies for size/content/quality and sheer thrill power, it's worth it, especially now the Sexy Ostriches have gone walkabout, D'Israeli's Ordinary Joe is coming and hopefully Lilly McKenzie makes a return something soon (hint-hint thargy baby!)

[Link Prime]

I think once you compare it with the ad-heavy American DC/Marvel flimsies for size/content/quality and sheer thrill power, it's worth it, especially now the Sexy Ostriches have gone walkabout, D'Israeli's Ordinary Joe is coming and hopefully Lilly McKenzie makes a return something soon

The pro-Meg argument in a nutshell.

[Mabs]

This was one of the few, if not the only time that I read the Meg first instead of the prog, part of the reason being the high praise from readers on this thread. And I must say I it was an absolute hoot! The absence of American Reaper has done wonders in my view, it gives other writers/ artists to take its place and create stories more worthwhile in my opinion. It may sound pretty hard on American Reaper and don't get me wrong, it did have its moments but I felt it outstayed its welcome by one too many episodes.

Coming back to this months Meg, let me first start off by saying that the Dan Francisco cover was very well done by Paul Marshall. It was maybe a bit too bright for my tastes but it was eye-cathing, with some great visuals on show. Imagine if this was a 3D/ lenticular cover like Empire Magazine are known for, we would have one hell of a cover with all the broken glass coming straight at you!

As for the contents, Judge Dredd: Nurture was up first, illustrated by the excellent P.J Holden and scripted by Rob Williams. It was a really enjoyable read with some memorable moments. One of those being the opening montage scene, with so much happening. It was a visceral opener, Holden's rendering of the  surroundings with graffiti applenty and watching bystanders (one with a placard saying " Will over eat for food"!) was brilliant. It called to mind the scene in Blade Runner when Deckard chases Zhora through the neon lit, male Nun/ Hare Krishna populated streets of Los Angeles. The 'heat seaker' incident was so much fun, not least for the fact it starts off a chain of events which will probably have grim repurcussions for some of the Judges, especially for chief Judge Hershey. So an excellent strip, I can't wait to read the next episode.

Interrogations was up next, with Steve Bisette under the spotlight. It was an informative read and I quite enjoyed it. It was great reading about Bisette's views and the accompanying panels were great fun, especially the shot of the Swamp Thing and Man Thing together, like two best pals! Following that we had Comicana: Thirty Years of Slaine by David Baillie. Like the preceding article It was an insightful read, with a look into one of 2000AD's most celebrated character and his illustrious history, and some views from Pat Mills and co. I'm not familiar with Slaine being a fairly new reader, but that is something I hope to rectify.

Tales from the Black Museum which followed was a lot of fun. The story by Alec Worley was laugh out loud funny at times (especially when we find out the main character hails from 'Victoria Beckham' block!), but a little sad toward the end too when we see the lengths somone would go to to stay healthy, or unhealthy in the case of the 'fatties'. It also served as a stark reminder where our own society is heading towards. The black and white artwork by Joe Carpenter was outstanding, I loved it!

Next up was The Street of Dan Francisco Part Five, it was the last epiode and what a thrilling action packed end it was too. Dan Francisco has matured as a character with stark reminder of the  the depths the city and its inhabitants have plunged to. At least that was my feeling and the absence of a camera in the last panel illustrates that. I thoroughly enjoyed this series, thanks to Arthur Wyatts excellent script and Paul Marshall's fabulous artwork, I hope we will see Dan Francisco back again in the near future.

Future Shocks: Multiplicity was also enjoyable albeit a little...well head trippy! I think I'll have to read it again to fully grasp what's going on. Nonetheless Henry Flint's artwork was a welcome sight. The style, including the black and white tone reminded me of his work on ABC Warriors (which is some of his best stuff in my opinion). Dead Man Talking; David Baillie's  short story I have yet to read but will do so soon. And Insurrection III was excellent, with some pulse pounding action and twists. Colin MacNeil's  artwork is truly awesome and the last page in particular was fantastic.

The advert for the Dredd comic sequel coming up next Meg got me salivating! Not only for the fact it's set in the same universe as the movieI but I loved Henry Flint's work on the prequel story in Meg 328, so I can't wait to see him back on art duties again. Add to that Rob Morrison and D'Israeli's 'Ordinary' and we might have a blockbuster Meg on our hands next month! I cannot wait......

The floppy: Black Siddha was a lot of fun too. I wasn't to wowed by it at first, but Pat Mills' fun script and Simon Davies' excellent artwork soon changed all that. And it was nice to see a story centred around Asian characters, with a different set of cultural god's and monster's on show, not to mention a reluctant hero in Govinda. His encounter with his reincarnated friend/dog was very funny. It seems like this is just the beginning of the story, was it cancelled or is awaiting a new series? Because on this evidence I wouldn't mind seeing what happens next. The short Judge Dredd story at the end was very good too, but the thing that got me really excited was seeing the return of cabbie Tanner in next months floppy with 'Beyond Zero'!

So a magnificent package overall. Meg 400 cannot come soon enough for me.

5/5

[Dog Deever]

I have mine on order at a local thrill-merchant, and there's no sign of it yet, if it's not in tomorrow, I'm going to get him to get me another- I missed one before and it pisses me off! I liked Black Siddha a lot at the time, and this is likely the only collection it's going to get, seeing as how few others seemed to enjoy it, which makes it doubly important for me to make sure I don't get bumped on this issue.

[Link Prime]

The advert for the Dredd comic sequel coming up next Meg got me salivating! Not only for the fact it's set in the same universe as the movieI but I loved Henry Flint's work on the prequel story in Meg 328, so I can't wait to see him back on art duties again. Add to that Rob Morrison and D'Israeli's 'Ordinary' and we might have a blockbuster Meg on our hands next month! I cannot wait......

Nor can I Mabs. Meg 340 might just have the tastiest line-up in years.

[TordelBack]

So the rest of this issue was pretty damn good.  I spent a glorious sunny afternoon in the park working my way through the balance while my daughter Hilda McGruder Jr forged a elite unit of sandcastle sappers out of random small children and marshalled them ruthlessly in the creation of a sand hen-house complete with dozens of eggs.  It's dunesharks next I reckon.

Review part 2:

Bissette text piece:  wide-ranging interview with one of my favourite creators.  Tyrant is one of my favourite things ever, and it's good to get an update on Steve's situation to replace the image from How to be an Artist, where Eddie depicts him staring forlornly at a blank drawing board as years pass.

An enjoyably witty Tales from the Black Museum with a grim ending has some interesting art by Joel Carpenter that feels unfinished in places but shows bags of character and potential.  Interesting to see what appears to be the curator himself in a display case even as he shows us around!

Short story: Dead Man Talking by David Bailie:  good noirish tale with lite MC-1 trappings.  I'd maybe have rastafied it by say 10% with a facechange machine or similar instead of a [spoiler]tanning salon[/spoiler], but it was punchy amusing stuff for its length. 

Insurrection III:  haven't read this since the first run, but it seems like business as usual even if I don't know the details.  I was a bit thrown by MacNeil's new softer more graded style and the sense of 'writing for the trade', but I reckon it'll grow on me.

The Dredd3D follow-on advert was enticing, but...

In conclusion, the Meg has exactly the same key problem it had when I left it several years ago: it's sealed in a bag, and there's no way of telling what's in there.  Presenting only the back cover of the floppy to the world is particularly crazy.  I reckon you get more quality comic and text for your dosh than any other comic out there, but you really wouldn't know it. 

By way of an example of just how poor the Meg is at blowing its own horn, this issue has a perfectly serviceable Future Shock drawn by Guy Adams and Henry bloody Flint, and it isn't even listed on the contents page.  That's just silly.

I'll definitely hang on with the paper version for next month on the strength of the Dredd alone, and then take it from there.  Very impressed.

[TordelBack]

Gah, typo: obviously I mean the FS was written by Guy Adams and drawn by Flint.

While I'm correcting things, over in the excellent Dredd strip, Hershey must have become Chief Cheez in 2122 at the latest (i.e. in our year 2000, after Volt's suicide after Doomsday in 2121), meaning that the clones were 'started' while she was already in office.

[chrisfil]

Hi, I'm a new poster finally getting around to posting. I'd stopped reading the Meg about 4 years ago. Always meant to start again, but there never seemed a jumping on point - always stories running that were an episode or two in and it didn't feel good value on the odd occasion I picked one up.

I tried a few months ago, and was really, really disappointed. American Reaper was one of the worst things i'd ever read in the Meg - and i've been reading it since the start and the other stuff felt light and cobbled together. It didn't feel much care was being spent on it and I really thought it was on it's way out to be honest. Such a shame, but things go through rough patches I suppose and I've always tried to support The Meg.

Happily, I started getting a digital copy to read Dan Francisco a few months back (which was ok, but not as good as I'd hoped) and i've seen it improve month by month ever since.

This issue was fantastic and it feels it's back on track, with loads of interesting stuff to come...